The CEO pleads guilty to a $380 million Ponzi scheme
Todd Burkhalter executed one of the largest Ponzi schemes in Georgia history as he acquired a yacht, a luxury condo in Mexico, luxury vehicles and jewelry through fraudulent real estate investments.
A Florida man has pleaded guilty to committing years of wire fraud in Georgia to finance a life of luxury – while costing his more than 2,000 investors a total of $380 million.
Todd Burkhalter, founder and CEO of Georgia-based Drive Planning LLC, ran what the FBI calls one of the largest Ponzi schemes in the state’s history, acquiring a yacht, a luxury condo in Mexico, luxury vehicles, jewelry and chartering private jets.
“Unbelievable that Burkhalter continued to brazenly defraud his victims even while under federal investigation,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. in a statement released on Wednesday. “Today’s guilty plea is just the first step in holding Burkhalter accountable for the significant harm he caused.”
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From September 2020 to June 2024, Burkhalter marketed real estate investment opportunities, including the Real Estate Acceleration Loan (REAL) opportunity and the Cash Out Real Estate Fund (CORE fund). The scammer told potential investors that they did not have to be accredited investors and encouraged them to withdraw money from retirement accounts, savings and lines of credit for investment purposes, prosecutors revealed in the statement.
The REAL program was the company’s primary investment vehicle, the Justice Department said. Burkhalter is said to have marketed the program as a bridge loan that would “guarantee” investors a 10 percent return every quarter.
Burkhalter and his company falsely claimed that the bridge loans were made to real estate developers who needed cash flow to complete existing projects or finance new ones, saying that these loans were secured by non-existent real estate collateral. To deceive investors, the company created fraudulent “collateral forms” that identified properties with “valuations” that served as collateral for investments.
Burkhalter and Drive Planning also perpetuated a fictional narrative about the company’s relationships with developers. After a high-profile Atlanta developer learned that the company was using the developer’s name to promote the REAL investment, the developer sued.
When it came to the CORE fund, Burkhalter falsely claimed that the fund provided investors with “100 percent passive tax lien income” and a 10 percent return every six months, or a 22 percent annual return for up to three years. He also falsely claimed that investors’ contributions to the fund were pooled, government protected and fully collateralized. Burkhalter and others at the company also never disclosed that Drive Planning did not invest any money in CORE after approximately December 9, 2022.
From the start, Burkhalter managed the funds as a Ponzi scheme, using the company’s initial $50,000 investment to repay an early investor in Drive Planning, the Justice Department said. He also allegedly used $80,000 in investor money to pay for his ex-wife’s attorney fees and recreational vehicle expenses.
During the course of the scheme, Burkhalter spent $2 million in investor funds to purchase a yacht; $2.1 million for the purchase of a condo in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; $800,000 to get luxury vehicles; millions to partake in luxury travel; and $320,000 in clothing, jewelry and beauty treatments.
“Todd Burkhalter built a massive Ponzi scheme based on lies, exploiting trust to steal hundreds of millions of dollars from more than 2,000 victims while financing an extravagant lifestyle,” Paul Brown, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta, said in a statement. “The FBI will continue to aggressively pursue those who weaponize fraud and deceit against investors, and we are committed to holding them fully accountable and seeking justice for every victim harmed.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating Drive Planning around March 2024, after which Burkhalter continued to raise millions from investors for the REAL and CORE funds.
During a Tampa Bay Rays game in May 2024, Burkhalter posted on Instagram a photo of Drive Planning’s advertisements behind home plate at Tropicana Field. Burkhalter paid the team $400,000 for the marketing space, of which the Rays ultimately had to give back half once Burkhalter’s scheme was exposed. ABC Tampa Bay 28 reported.
The SEC subsequently obtained a restraining order against Drive Planning in August 2024 and filed civil enforcement actions against the company in court. The government has conditionally promised to recommend that the court sentence Burkhalter to 17 and a half years in prison, in accordance with a plea agreement. Burkhalter’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 17, 2026 before U.S. District Judge Tiffany R. Johnson.
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